U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday laid out a list of five global challenges in his speech before the opening of the United Nations annual General Debate. The first of these, he said, is sustainable development. "We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security and women's empowerment," Ban said. A second challenge is preventing conflict. Ban said the U.N. peacekeeping budget is currently $8 billion. "Consider the savings if we act before conflict erupts-by deploying political mediation missions, for example, rather than troops." He also added that the best form of prevention is development, promoting the rule of law, and ending impunity for human rights violations. The third challenge is "building a safer and more secure world-our core responsibility as the United Nations," the U.N. chief said, adding that the U.N. will continue its missions in Afghanistan and Iraq and will continue to "save lives in Darfur." Addressing the Middle East, Ban said: "We must break the stalemate. We have long agreed that Palestinians deserve a state. Israel needs security. Both want peace." Fourthly, he said nations must support democratic transitions in the Arab world. "The violence must stop," he said. The final challenge is "working with-and working for-women and young people." Women are natural leaders, the U.N. chief said: they are educators, they raise children, they hold families together and they increasingly drive economies. The youth are more than our future, Ban said.
